Previews

NASCAR Racing 2003 Season

Assuming price wasn't a consideration, if you had the choice between a Mercedes Benz SL 500 and a Toyota Corolla, which one would you pick? Well, unless you're a complete buffoon, I'm assuming you're now driving around in a German-made luxury mobile as opposed to the Japanese-engineered economy ride.

A similar choice has been available to PC racing fans for years, with Papyrus' NASCAR series being the obvious selection over the competent-but-not-in-the-same-class competition provided by the likes of Electronic Arts and Hasbro. And, come the first week of February, you'll be able to experience the new magic the wizards of Papyrus have cast into the latest version of the top-selling, top-performing series when NASCAR Racing 2003 Season hits the shelves.

As expected with any new version, attention has been given to improving the graphics and adding bells and whistles that add to the realism of the experience. The NASCAR games have always been gorgeous, and that hasn't changed with the 2003 version; whether driving from the cockpit view or watching a replay from one of the TV angles, you'll be impressed with the visuals. Dirt and oil accumulate on the windshields, adding a gritty you-are-there edge to the racing. It never becomes a problem as far as obscuring your view, but it sure does make the races feel more dynamic.

The same effect is accomplished through the use of varying weather conditions during and between sessions. What this means is that you'll need to be prepared in case the clouds go away and the track heats up or if the rain starts to fall. As any experienced racer knows, you have to drive the track conditions as well as the car. Other small touches have been added, as well, including realistic flags so you can tell at a glance which way and how powerful the wind is blowing, animated objects, varying car models, animated drivers in replay mode, and opponent pit crews re-creating the confusion that can occur when multiple cars are coming into pit row at the same time.

The most important changes, however, are those that have been made to the computer-controlled AI cars. Papyrus has always allowed the player to adjust the AI settings to make for more competitive races, but in NASCAR Racing 2003, they've taken this to the next step, adding what they call "Adaptive AI" and "Auto Adjusting AI." Grant Reeve, the AI engineer for the game explains what these mean and how they'll come into play:

Leader of the pack!

"The Automatic AI percentage is an estimation made by the game of about where it thinks your driving skill is for each track. After a race is complete the game compares the speeds of your laps to the speeds of the AI's laps, and makes an adjustment to the auto AI percentage. The aim is to try to come up with AI of fairly similar strengths within a couple of races.

The Adaptive Speed Control (ASC), however, actually varies the speed of the AI while out on the track. The player is compared to the leading AI of the race -- if the lead AI is too far ahead the whole field slows up a bit to let the player catch up. Conversely if the player is out ahead, the field will be sped up to catch up. The aim of the ASC is to keep the player up in the lead pack. The speed the AI drive once the player is actually in the lead pack is somewhat based on the current strength percent set for the weekend, so you still need to have their base strength setting in the right ballpark to have a good competitive race."